Ans. My name is Shruti Kumar, I am from Patna Bihar, I did my schooling till 10th from St. Joseph’s Convent High School, Patna; my 11th and 12th from DPS RK Puram, I attended Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, I was my school topper in class 10th and had secured 97%, I had secured AIR 33 in AI PMT examination, and I had tried to stay a regular student

Q. What is the secret of your success?

Ans. Hard work and intelligent study (meaning I did a lot of questions, took a lot of tests and revised more.)

Q. How was your internship?

Ans. My internship was a bit heavy, like it is for most colleges. But still I tried studying for 4 to 6 hours per day. I had joined Dr. Bhatia TND classes and tried to go parallel with the classes.

Q. When did you seriously start preparing for the entrance exam?

Ans. I started preparing seriously for the examination since 1st JANUARY 2014.

Q. How many hours did you study each day?

Ans. In my internship days, around 4 to 6 hours; but when on holidays and since January 2015, 10 to 12 effective hours.

Ans. I personally think leaving out any subject can be very dangerous, so I focused on all subjects, yet I focused more on Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Ophthalmology, PSM and Biochemistry, Anatomy, Pharmacology.

Q. What were your study methods? How many revisions did you do for each subject?

Ans. . I did retrograde studies. First I did questions from previous 5 to 7 years repeats of AIIMS and PGI of any subject I would study and then I would read either notes or subject wise guides. Also I tried revising twice before the exam. Also I took a lot of grand tests.

Q. What was your strategy for the exam day? How many questions did you attempt and why?

Ans. A good night’s sleep is essential for any examination. PGIMER exam requires you to read very fast and carefully because it is the only exam where you have to read 1250 options where each option could be a potential answer. Also, the negative is higher than for other exams, so try to limit the number of options you mark. I attempted around 550 to 570 options in PGI exam.
AIIMS exam on the contrary requires you to take risks. If you can eliminate 2 options you should definitely mark the answer. Also read each question and its options carefully, more often than not you’ll be able to arrive at the answer by exclusion. I attempted 195 questions in AIIMS exam.

Q. Did you join any classes or test series? Was it useful?

Ans. I joined DAMS FOUNDATION in my prefinal and final year; Dr. Bhatia MEDICAL Coaching INSTITUTE TND in my internship; and DAMS regular after my internship for 5 months. Yes, I think guidance is essential for securing good ranks, although its your hard work that is more important.

Q. Who or what influenced you to take up Medicine?

Ans. I had imagined being a Doctor as long as I know myself, it is undoubtedly the noblest and the most satisfying of all professions.

Ans. I want to tell the future aspirants that the path of preparation might seem difficult in the beginning, but its a very doable goal to achieve. Focus on your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Also don’t be disappointed because you could not do well in the past, because each exam is different and your performance varies from day-to-day. Most importantly, keep your mind focussed and always have faith in your abilities. A positive approach works wonders in any endeavour and this one is no exception.

Q. Indian PG entrances are highly competitive, so to crack them students end up in appearing for multiple PG exams with some of them having same exam with different slots and papers , please extend your views on this and their pros and cons of appearing in multiple PG entrances.

Ans. The pros are that you have a higher chance of getting through as it widens your options. At the same time don’t get lost in the examinations; if you have prepared well, you’ll be able to do well in any examination. I think you should have 3 to 4 options open. Beyond that, I think it is just going to exhaust you.

We are ending this interview with our hearty congratulations and best wishes for future to this talented person, Dr. Shruti Kumar. Also special thanks for such amazingly detailed interview which I am sure will help many future PG medical aspirants.